Rasanya Begitu Asing
Rasanya Begitu Asing is the first story in the Grey Menace chapters. Characters * Philomena Develsbourne * Eleanor Mangkoedimedjo * Lusinda Sucipto * Miranda Sucipto * Perbawanto Sucipto * Gino Abdullah * Minah Mintarsih * Hilda Oenger * Erna Lubis * Mimi Armanto * Maya Hapsari * Peter Sputer * Soemar Sucipto * Ida Sucipto * Matilda Willem (flashbacks) * Hugo Willem (flashbacks) * Prabowo Mangkoedimedjo (flashbacks) * Adam Sutansyah (flashbacks) Plot The once-widowed and twice-divorced sexagenarian Philomena Develsbourne arrives at the Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia (after residing for many years mainly in Florida in the United States and all over the world with her archeologist husband) to move back to her hometown, Paterosari, in Kuningan, West Java. She is dismayed from the long flight, but decides to continue her journey immediately rather than resting up. She takes the train to Cirebon, and waits for her family to pick her up there for over an hour, her annoyance immediately increased. She meets, by chance, a man in a truck that is heading towards Paterosari, and she gets a ride from him and is dropped off at her family house, the stately Van Haji House, when her family had just gotten out of the driveway to pick her up. She is greeted by her late twin sister's daughter, Lusinda Sucipto, Lusi's husband Wanto Sucipto, their driver Gino Abdullah, and their housekeeper Minah Mintarsih. Upon entering the house, Phil experiences great nostalgia, and she is accompanied by Lusi to her old bedroom, where she decides to rest for a while after her long trip. She is woken up a few hours later to a blackout, and she converses with Gino since the house was apparently empty. When the family returns, they find Phil sitting in the back porch while being fanned by Gino, whom she tips generously afterwards. She is reunited with her cranky, lively mother Eleanor Mangkoedimedjo and meets Lusi's teenaged daughter, Miranda Sucipto. Lusi reveals that they will have a homecoming party for Phil in the evening, and so Phil decides to prepare herself. As the evening sets in and the house is being prepared, Wanto's parents, Soemar Sucipto and Ida Sucipto, arrive--the latter a disliked figure by most people in the house, even by Phil as well, who greets her with a slight dismay. As Ida meddles with the preparations, Phil converses with Minah, making jokes about Ida. A few hours later, the party is in full swing with old friends, relatives, and neighbours. Three of four of Phil's best friends are there; humorous Erna Lubis, bombshell Mimi Armanto, and acerbic Hilda Oenger. As all of them try to connect after years of being apart, Phil realises how different everything is, especially with the absence of Maya Hapsari. It is later revealed that Maya is very ill, so Phil expresses great concern and would like to go and visit her, but none of the women could make it. Later that night, after the party, Phil confides with her mother about the situation, and she tells her that she has to do something about it if she doesn't like it. Phil visits Maya the next day, shocked to see her condition. She has been suffering from kidney failure and multiple sclerosis, and Phil tries to talk to her until Maya begins coughing horribly. She leaves the room, giving time for her to rest, checking in on her a few times before she leaves. Upon arriving at home, she meets her niece, whom helps her with her newly sent things. They have tea afterwards and talk about Mira, how her adventurous soul reminds her of Lusi's mother as Mira plays with the neighbour Peter Sputer's dog, Ifrit who is known to be fearsome but once saved Mira from being kidnapped when she was a toddler. Phil calls for the dog, whom charges at her, but immediately runs away when she smiles at him. The next morning, Phil wakes up early and talks with Minah about being old and the problems housekeepers face in Indonesia. She spends the day meeting up with her old friends, wanting to see what they really think of Maya's situation and how they have become so far apart. Mimi, who lives just down the street from Phil, shows some concern and nostalgia for the old days, Phil noticing that she has become a recluse that looks down on herself. Erna, whom she meets at a restaurant, appears to hide her concerns behind her brashness, her humorous attitude now seemingly cynical. Hilda, who unexpectedly came to visit her before she even called to meet her, decides to confide with Phil. She reveals that she has not made up with Maya, with whom she has had a tiff with for over 40 years. Maya's late husband was previously Hilda's lover, and Hilda, who came from an affluent family ridden with problems, did not react to things well. She has begun to understood that, after years of anger, resentment, and spite, it all stemmed from misunderstanding, and it could've easily been evaded had Hilda decided that blaming was not the right option. Phil advices her to meet up with Maya tomorrow together, to talk it over. The next morning, news arrives that Maya died. The friends come to her funeral, and reflect on what had just happened at Phil's house. When they all left, Phil talks to her mother about how disconnected she feels, about how displeased she is at the situation and how things have changed so much after decades. Eleanor tells her to stop complaining and do something about it, leaving her daughter to think about her next course of action. Category:Stories